Leafclan Challenges!
by Echo and Asher's Domian
Summary: This is where my Leafclan challenges are at! Please join Leafclan!
1. Intro

**Hi, my Echolets! This is where I will post my Leafclan Challenges! If you want to see more of me just join Leafclan! We have loads of fun goofing around and role playing! Just don't tell Graymist about my secret water balloon stash on floor 12!**


	2. Why me?

_Oh Starclan, why? Why must you torture me like this? It's bad enough that I broke your code, but you are harming my mate. Is it punishment for the code? If it is, I'm sorry! Just don't harm Whiteshell! _ Pondtail silently prayed to Starclan. She couldn't bear to see her mate in this condition.

Pondtail walked into the medicine den and saw Hawkdream sorting herbs. She just walked past her to see Whiteshell. He did not look good. His black and white spotted pelt was rising and falling slowly. His eyes were closed and his breath was shallow.

"It's greencough," Hawkdream said as she came up behind Pondtail. "I would be able to treat him but I have no catmint left, and all of the catmint was destroyed in the early frost."

"Is there nothing else you can do?" Pondtail asked desperately. She tried to flatten her gray and white pelt.

Hawkdream answered, "The only thing that be done is to let him see Starclan."

_This is all because of me! _Pondtail thought to herself. _If only I didn't save our leader instead of Whiteshell!_

Pondtail walked out of the sweet smelling medicine den and into the coldest leafbare yet. The clan was all busy getting fresh prey and making sure that no stray cats entered our territory.

"Pondtail!" a red-ginger cat exclaimed as I sat. It was Clawstar. "I wish to see you in my den."

Pondtail ducked into the outcrop of rocks that was the leader's den. The smooth walls were grey and cold. Pondtail sat down when she entered the cave. "You wished to see me, Clawstar?"

"Yes," Clawstar conformed. "I think it is time for you to move into the elder's den. Before you complain, let me point some things out. You are younger than me and I'm about 150 moons. You are also getting gray spots on your muzzle."

Pondtail saw Clawstar's logic and agreed to move into the elder's den tomorrow. She didn't want to move in just yet because she had a plan to save her mate. She would first go out the dirt place tunnel, walk out of the territory, get all of the catmint she could find, and return to save her mate. Pondtail would do this tonight when no cat was looking.

* * *

The moon was barely above the horizon when a snow storm hit the camp. Pondtail was almost going to give up but she had to save her mate. She got up from her nest and walked into the snow covered clearing. She scampered over to the tunnel and got out. The forest was covered in the white flakes of snow. Pondtail went over to the west border: towards the Twoleg place. She knew that most Twoleg gardens had the lifesaving herb.

Pondtail started to feel cold when she approached the small Twoleg den. She could smell the sweat aroma of the herb, but Pondtail could not locate the catmint. She checked the gardens, the large grass area, and the boxes in the see through wall.

The gray and white she-cat hopped over the wooden fence and into the next garden. There was none there either! Pondtail looked up and saw that the moon was high in the star lit sky. _I'm running out of time!_ Pondtail thought while worrying.

She checked the next Twoleg garden and there it was! The catmint was fresh and green. Pondtail got all of the leaves and dashed into the forest. She was able to glance up at the moon and saw that it was about 1/4th of the way down. _I will have to sprint all the way to camp. _Pondtail thought.

She was about half way to the camp when her front left paw gave out. The moon was halfway down. _I must go on! To save Whiteshell!_ The old she-cat ran at an awkward gait to make it to camp. The cold leafbare air made its way into her lungs and she developed a cough.

She could see the camp as soon the sun was peaking over the horizon. _I can make it! _Pondtail thought with excitement, but her bones grew brittle over her many moons. She was about 20 fox lengths away when her hip gave out. Pondtail's face slammed on to a rock. She started to bleed out of a gaping wound in her head. The last thing was look up at the sky and say, "Please forgive me for what I have done. Save Whiteshell and take me instead!"

* * *

Hawkdream woke up from her den to see the soft layer of snow on the ground. _Maybe the herbs under the brambles are safe to use. _Hawkdream thought. The light brown she cat rushed under the camp's main entrance and to the bramble patch.

Hawkdream was about halfway there when she tripped over something covered in the snow. She dug up the pile of snow and saw gray and white cat's fur underneath. Hawkdream saw that the pelt was familiar but she couldn't think of who it was. She thought, _Maybe this is just a rouge. But they do deserve to be buried._

Hawkdream saw a little bit of green coming out of the snow and went to unbury it. She soon came face to face with Pondtail. Pondtail seemed long dead and with still useable catmint in her mouth. Hawkdream took the green herb and ran back to camp. She gave some of the catmint to Whiteshell and went to wake Clawstar. The elderly ginger tom woke up.

"What do you need, Hawkdream?" Clawstar said with a hint of annoyance.

The young she-cat sat by her leader, "Pondtail died out in the cold. She ran off to get some catmint for Whiteshell. She must have died from the extreme cold and exhaustion."

Clawstar looked off into the distance with great sadness. "Well get some warriors to fetch her body and then we will have a vigil for her."

Hawkdream bowed her head ad slipped out of the den. She rounded up some warriors and got Pondtail's body from the snow. They laid her in the middle of camp for vigil.

* * *

Pondtail could see the camp having vigil for her, but she didn't care about that. All she cared about was that Whiteshell was going to get better. Everything was perfect until she felt a smooth pelt sit next to her. She turned to see the white and black pelt of her mate, Whiteshell.

"No! I," Pondtail got up and slowly backed away, "I saved you!"

Whiteshell spoke in his soft baritone voice, "You were a few minutes late. I died when you collapsed to the ground. See there I was."

Pondtail looked down and saw the limp body of Whiteshell being dragged and dropped next to her own dead body. She put her head in Whiteshell's fur and cried softly.

"It's time." Whiteshell whispered softly.

"Let's go." Pondtail replied. She linked her tail with her mate's and they walked up to the stars. You can still see them today: look northeast and up a bit. There is where Pondtail and Whiteshell sit today, watching their clan together, until the end of time.


	3. One Life, One Clan

**One Life, One Clan**

My life is a mess. My twolegs don't want me. My mate abandoned me. My kits were taken away against my will. What else could go wrong?

I guess I should start at the beginning. I am Cymbal, or at least that is what my twolegs called me. My green eyes match well with my light cream coat. I've always been a shy cat. My mate, Loki, was the only cat that could understand me. When the kits were born, he left me. My kits were only five moons when the twolegs took them. After that, I ran away. I wandered through the Twolegplace before going into the forest. I met two clans that wanted to have me as a warrior: Windclan and Shadowclan. Since they both wanted me, I could decide. Before I could decide, I stayed one moon in each clan.

Windclan was a nice place to stay. I could keep up with the fast rabbits, live under the stars, and I think I found another mate, Rabbitheart. He seemed to know what I needed and how I learned things. Everyone seemed to accept me, just like I wanted.

Shadowclan was really different from Windclan. They lived on a swamp and had pine trees everywhere. They ate frogs, lizards and rats. They were not that bad! The nests were dry enough to keep the wet marsh off of my pelt. Shadowclan was also a fun clan to be with, even if they were called the most fearsome clan in the forest.

After the moon in Shadowclan was done, I had to go to the Moonstone with one warrior from each clan. I choose Rabbitheart from Windclan and Yellowfang from Shadowclan. The journey was hard and cold because it was the worst part of leaf-bare. When we got to the Mothermouth, I was scared. The cave was dark and damp.

"Just follow me, Cymbal. I know the way." Yellowfang said. She was the Shadowclan medicine cat so this didn't surprise me.

We all made it to the Moonstone. I never thought it would be this beautiful. The stone was faintly glowing in a milky white color. The stone was smooth but it was not that smooth. Suddenly the stone glowed brighter than a monster's eyes. It was still the milky white color.

Yellowfang stepped up and spoke, "Cymbal, what you need to do is put your nose up to the stone. Once you fall asleep, you will have dreams with our ancestors. They will show you which Clan you will pick."

"But what if they do not show me which clan I will choose? What will I do then?" I asked the two cats.

Rabbitheart spoke then, "If that happens then it will be your decision to make. We will not be able to interfere with your dream or decision."

"Okay. Here you go Cymbal. Put your nose here and may all of our dreams be good ones." Yellowfang said.

I lay down on the smooth, cold cave floor. I hesitated before I touched the stone with my muzzle. When I did, I suddenly went asleep.

The landscape around me changed. The cave walls were gone and trees and shrubs filled in. I noticed that these trees and bushes were different: They were made of stars. _So this is Starclan! It is actually really pretty here. _I thought. I was too busy looking around that I did not notice a small group of cats walking across the clearing.

"Are you Cymbal?" a wiry brown tom asked.

I turned around to see the group of starry cats. There was the brown tom and he had cold green eyes, a white she-cat with black paws and stripes and gentle amber eyes, a tabby grey she-cat with light blue, and a tortoiseshell tom with green eyes. They all seemed to know each other in one way or another.

"Ye…yes. Who are you?" I confirmed and questioned.

"I am Dovejaw of Windclan," the white she-cat said. Her voice was soft but had an edge to it. She must have been a queen.

"I am Brownfur of Windclan," the brown tom explained. He seemed a bit on the small side but very muscular.

"I am Greylightning of Shadowclan," the tabby she-cat said. Her eyes showed a little bit of playfulness. Greylightning must have just been made a warrior.

"And I am Longspot of Shadowclan," said the tortoiseshell tom. His voice was very raspy like a cut on flesh.

"So Cymbal, why are you here?" Greylightning asked me.

I sat down on the starry grass below me and shuffled my paws below me. "I came here for guidance on which clan I should join: Shadowclan or Windclan."

"There is an easy answer to that question." Longspot spat out. "Choose Shadowclan! They are the ones that can raise you to power and glory!"

Dovejaw silenced the Shadowclan tom before speaking, "What Longspot should have said was that it is up to you which clan you choose. It does not matter."

"But Shadowclan will be a better choice for the future." Greylightning said.

Brownfur shook his head in disagreement. "No, Shadowclan is to power hungry and blood thirsty for a timid she-cat like Cymbal."

I just sat there while the starry Clan ancestors fought over which clan I would join. I heard things of a cat named Brokenstar and of Bloodclan. I was about to ask the Starclan cats what they were talking about when I was awakening.

The trees were disappearing and stone walls were taking their place. The Moonstone was softly glowing again. I stood up to see slight rays of light coming down through the hole in the ceiling. Yellowfang and Rabbitheart were just outside of the cave. I walked out towards them and saw that the sun was coming over the horizon.

"How was your Starclan visit? Did they tell you which clan to choose?" Rabbitheart pestered.

Yellowfang was able to stop him, "She does not have to tell us what happened."

We walked away from the Mothermouth and towards a twoleg barn. I could smell the dogs from quite a ways away. They seemed to be tied up but every cat can be wrong.

Two dogs ran around the fence post and right to us. Rabbitheart was the first to react by jumping to the top of the fence post. Yellowfang followed after him. I was just too scared to jump so I ran away from the dogs. Rabbitheart saw that the dogs were right on my tail when he didn't see me on the fence. He jumped right on top of the smaller dog and clawed at the face and nose. The small dog whimpered when it ran away.

The last dog was about to bite my tail, but I formed up a small plan that was risky. I took a turn down an alleyway. It had a huge wall at the end. The dog saw the opportunity took catch me and it ran faster. When I got to the end of the alleyway, I jumped on the wall and ricocheted back. I managed to dig my claws into the dog's back before turning and running back.

I got back to the fence to see that Yellowfang and Rabbitheart were still alive. Only Rabbitheart had a slight scratch on him. Yellowfang was treating him. At that time I saw that the fence's shadows were growing bigger and bigger, but the wind seemed to blow them away. _An omen? _I thought. _Is an omen meaning to join Windclan?_

I dismissed the thought and brought my attention to the two cats. They seemed to be fighting and Yellowfang was winning. _Another omen? _I thought. _Is this one to join Shadowclan? _I was able to stop the fighting and we trekked back to Fourtrees.

When we arrived at the Clan's sacred ground, I walked towards the Great Rock where Cedarstar and Heatherstar were sitting. They seemed on edge to hear my choice.

"Which of the Clans do you choose, Cymbal?" Heatherstar asked.

Cedarstar spoke up, "Remember that you cannot undo this action."

I thought for a moment. Both of the omens I received showed that I could choose any of them. "I choose to live with," I paused to make sure this is what I wanted, "Windclan."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I, Heatherstar, leader of Windclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Grasspaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Heatherstar asked.

I replied, "I do."

"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Grasspaw, from this moment you will be known as Grassheart. Starclan honors your independence and cleverness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Windclan." Heatherstar bounced off of Tallrock and touched her nose to my head.

I licked her shoulder. I was now Grassheart of Windclan: mate of Rabbitheart, apprentice of Heatherstar, and mother of many new kits.


End file.
